https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/20/black-student-hawaii-mormon-school-says-hes-fighting-order-cut-locs


A Black student at a Mormon university in Hawaii said he has been told by staff to cut his shoulder-length hair because it does not adhere to school policies, he said.


Kanaan VyShonne Barton, a student at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, told the Salt Lake Tribune he has been engaged in a battle with the school since September over the length of his hair, which he has refused to cut.

The university requires students to follow an “honor code”, which states hair should be “neatly trimmed”, although the code has no official guidance on length.

“Regardless of the length of my hair, I am spiritually involved. I am actively going to church,” Barton told the Tribune.

“I am doing well in school work. I am doing everything else. But my locs mean something to me. They are culture. They are family.”

He added: “I shouldn’t have to cut my hair to get an education here.”

BYU–Hawaii is a satellite campus of the Utah-based Brigham Young University, and is owned and operated by the Church of Latter Day Saints. Students are required to avoid sex “outside marriage between a man and a woman” and “same-sex romantic behavior” is prohibited. Alcohol and caffeinated beverages are also not allowed to be consumed, while students must follow rules regarding “dress and grooming”.

                  Are

"same-sex romantic behavior"

                  and

"same-sex lustful behavior"

        the same thing?



Did I just find the LBGQetc people a loophole?

“Alcohol and caffeinated beverages are also not allowed to be consumed”

This article is not all correct Utah has plenty of soda shops where active LDS members get their caffeinated beverages.

Not sure where I read it but I heard that BYU has something called a “beard card” some men got permission to wear a beard at BYU due to their skin condition or something like that.

This man could get a “long hair card” due to his culture. The LDS church has been in the news lately for being unkind they could change is to being kind to this man and allowing him to have his hair style.

I was issued a "beard card" at the Y after getting the part of an adult male in a play!

I remember it like it was 55 years ago!

The student said “…my locs mean something to me. They are culture. They are family.”

I’m glad he explained why the issue isn’t simply about getting a haircut. And true enough, if the school doesn’t mandate a certain length for a male head of hair they shouldn’t get to make such a demand after he has been admitted. (I don't even understand what the deal is about hair length. Why does it matter?)


Further from the article:

“In 2021, BYU published an internal report which found that “many Bipoc [black, indigenous, and other people of color] students at BYU feel isolated and unsafe as a result of their experiences with racism at BYU”.

I wonder if school admin felt bad about this and determined to make some positive changes because it’s quite the indictment against the school and therefore also the church. Racism at the Lord’s University is really quite unacceptable. You’d think.


“BYU was named after Brigham Young, the former president of the Mormon church. As president, Young formalized a ban on Black people from serving in the priesthood.

“In 2013 the church said it now rejected previous teachings.”

Rejecting some of the foundational doctrines of your own leaders. That’s quite a thing. You might well wonder what other teachings of BY et al should be revisited and reversed.


“The church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavour or curse, or that it reflects actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else,” the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement.”

I note they call such teachings “theories”. I thought they were doctrine? They were viewed that way for all these years, no? The number of people hurt by such beliefs is countless at this point. How could you ever atone for the harm done to so many people?


“Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.”

It’s very unfortunate, to say the least, that today’s leaders have to strongly apologize for yesterday’s leaders. You kind of expect church founders and leaders who believe they are operating under divine inspiration to be ahead of the pack on things, including respect, equality, compassion, logic and fair play. No?

And LDS Corp. wonders why nobody wants to come to their party!

Dreds are an expression of religion. Why shouldn't BYU trample on religious freedoms that are not LDS, if they can get away with it? It's not like the church would allow students to worship how, where, or what they may. Or obey, honor, and sustain the law such as Title VI.

He should tell them make me cut my dreds and you'll have a Civil Rights lawsuit on your hands.